Steelers Re-Sign Big-Bodied Wide Receiver

The Pittsburgh Steelers released wide receiver Shaquan Davis and cornerback Zyon Gilbert from the practice squad on Tuesday, the team announced. In a corresponding move to the release of Gilbert, the Steelers signed cornerback D’Shawn Jamison to the practice squad.

While it hasn’t been officially announced, Brooke Pryor of ESPN reports that the Steelers are signing wide receiver Jaray Jenkins back to the practice squad. He’ll be Davis’ replacement. Davis was only with the team for a week. 

Davis signed with the New Orleans Saints as an undrafted free agent following the 2023 NFL Draft. After spending his rookie season on the Saints practice squad, he signed a reserve/futures contract with the Philadelphia Eagles this offseason.

His tenure in Philadelphia didn’t last long, however, as he was released on Aug. 7. He returned to the Saints during training camp, but was waived on Aug. 27.

Davis played just seven snaps in the preseason with the Saints. He received one target.

Jenkins joins Brandon Johnson, and Quez Watikins on the practice squad. Jenkins caught four passes on five targets for 44 yards in three preseason games with the Steelers but was released on cut-down day.

Jenkins missed all of 2023 after he reached an injury settlement with the Jacksonville Jaguars in September due to an undisclosed injury.

The Steelers signed Jenkins to a one-year deal in June. Jenkins was a low-volume, big-play receiver for the LSU Tigers through the 2022 season. At LSU, Jenkins hauled in 89 career receptions for 1,370 yards and 14 touchdowns with 12 of them coming over his final two seasons. Jenkins finished his college career with 43 appearances and 20 starts at wide receiver for the Tigers. Over his five seasons in Death Valley, Jenkins totaled 89 career receptions for 1,370 yards and 14 touchdowns.

Jenkins ran a 4.6-second 40-yard dash at the 2023 NFL Combine. He also posted a 4.52-second shuttle, a 7.38-second three-cone drill, a 29.5-inch vertical jump and a 9-foot-8 broad jump. These were all among the bottom-tier scores for wide receivers. In total, he had a 4.09 Relative Athletic Score out of 10.

Gilbert signed with the Steelers after the club waived cornerback Kalon Barnes with an injury designation on Aug. 13. Gilbert was a part of the last wave of cuts to complete the Steelers cut down from 91 players to 53, and was signed to the practice squad shortly after.

Gilbert, 25, is a 6-foot, 193-pound cornerback out of Florida Atlantic. He first joined the New York Giants as an undrafted free agent in 2022 and played in three games for New York while making one start. He recorded 14 tackles, one tackle for loss, one sack and one quarterback hit in those three games.

The Giants re-signed Gilbert for 2023, but released him at the end of training camp last summer. He caught on with the Green Bay Packers practice squad on Oct. 25 and spent the rest of the season there, but was not elevated for any games. The Packers re-signed him for 2024, but released Gilbert on July 30.

Of his 73 regular season snaps with the Giants, most of them came as a slot cornerback, with only 10 snaps at outside cornerback, per Pro Football Focus. He did play more outside cornerback in the preseason for the Giants in 2022.